Rug care

GENERAL CLEANING ADVICE

We recommend that you vacuum your rug regularly to keep it clean and to help prevent the pile of the rug from flattening. If you have purchased a wool rug or long pile shaggy rug we recommend using a suction only vacuum cleaner, do not use a vacuum cleaner with a spinning brush head. Most light dirty marks can be cleaned with a damp cloth. Do not machine wash or dry clean your rug (unless the label on the back of the rug instructs that you can do so).

STAINS

Our rugs are works of art so we advise any kind of stain is professionally cleaned to ensure the longevity of the piece.

PILE SHEDDING (Fluff)

It is completely normal for ALL wool rugs to shed some fibres, this is a natural characteristic of wool as a material. Pile shedding is also normal in some of our man-made fibre rugs (acrylic, viscose and polyester). Pile shedding is usually most noticeable in the first several months of use and can lessen over time but will not stop completely. Pile shedding does not affect the life of a rug. We recommend regular vacuuming to remove any excess fluff/fibres.

SPROUTING (Long Threads)

Some rugs are prone to what is known in the rug & carpet industry as sprouting or pilling. This is where some strands/threads of the pile will appear that are longer than the rest of the pile. When this occurs all you need to do it trim any longer strands with a pair of sharp scissors. It is important that you do not try to pull these long threads as this can damage the rug.

MARKS OR CREASES IN THE RUG PILE

You may notice that when you first unroll your new rug there are lines or creases running across the width of it. On some rugs there may only be one of these line/crease marks a few inches from one edge of the rug. These line/crease marks are completely normal and are just pressure marks caused by the rug being rolled up whilst in transit. They are not permanent and will gradually fade with normal use and regular vacuuming.

Some rugs are susceptible to ‘Pile Shading’, especially rugs that have a shiny/silky pile. Pile Shading is a term in the rug & carpet industry that refers to marks caused by certain areas of the pile running in a different direction, meaning that it reflects light differently. These marks will look either a bit lighter or a bit darker than the rest of the pile in the rug. If you brush your hand over the pile of some rugs and see the colour get slightly lighter or darker. The pile of the rug needs chance to settle over a period of a few weeks so it all runs in the same direction. Frequent vacuuming or brushing of the pile can help to speed this process up.

GETTING YOUR RUG TO LAY FLAT

The more you use and walk over the rug the quicker it will flatten out. This can take anything from a few days to a few weeks depending on the type of rug you have purchased. You can sometimes speed this process up by rolling the rug in the opposite direction to the way it was rolled in its packaging (pile outwards) and leave it somewhere warm (such as near a radiator) for 24 hours.